Catch 22
by Nalanzu
Summary: Trunks struggles to save the Earth from an enemy he never would have believed possible. Trouble is, no one else believes it either.


/It was an accident. A stupid accident. And it never should have happened. How can a Saiyan not survive a train wreck? Perhaps that isn't quite accurate. Goten isn't dead. Yet. He's damn near it, though, and I want to know why. 

It was one of the most spectacular pileups in recorded history, with the most massive death toll since someone last tried to take over the world. Of course, no one but us _remembers_ the last time someone tried to conquer the world, so that little comparison hasn't been drawn. 

They pulled him out of the center, intending to place the miraculously whole corpse in another body bag. Imagine the surprise when they noticed that he was breathing. I'd have liked to have seen the looks on their faces. 

His injuries are mostly consistent with the crash, which leads me to believe that he wasn't conscious when the impact occurred. If he had been, he'd have been able to shield himself. It's the other cuts and abrasions that bother me. None of the doctors pay any attention to me, though. They're all too much in awe of the fact that he's alive at all. 

Even the beating he's obviously taken doesn't account for his condition, though. He should be awake. Instead, it's like he's not even there. Piccolo-san brought a sensu bean, and I tried to give it to him, but he wouldn't swallow it. So it didn't do any good. 

Gohan is worried to the point of driving me insane about his little brother. I can't blame him, but his pacing is getting on my nerves./ 

Trunks put the pen down and caught Gohan by the sleeve. "Gohan-san…" 

For the briefest moment, Gohan had a flash of Trunks' future counterpart. It dissipated as he glanced down. "I'm sorry, Trunks. I'm bothering you." 

"Sit down, Gohan-san. I want to talk to you." 

Surprised, Gohan sat opposite the lilac-haired youth. "What is it?" 

"What was Goten doing on the train to Metro North?" 

It was a simple question. Gohan had absolutely no answer. "I… I don't know. I thought he was with you that day." 

So that was why Gohan had been so relieved to see him earlier. Trunks shook his head. "We were supposed to spar. He never showed." 

"But I flew with him over half way to your place." Gohan frowned. 

Trunks slapped the paper against the flat of his hand. "I knew that was you. I knew it. I felt both of you, but when he stopped I figured it was your father. The two of them feel almost identical." 

Gohan bestowed an are-you-sure-you're-all-right expression on the younger Saiyan. "Trunks, my father is… well, I'm not sure where he is, but if he was here you'd know about it." 

Trunks sighed. He wished he'd paid more attention to what Goten had been doing after he'd been separated from Gohan. He'd decided that Goku-san's business in Satan City had been his own and… "Satan City." 

"What was that?" Gohan asked, picking up the pen Trunks had dropped. 

"He was in Satan City. That's where I stopped following his ki." Trunks hopped out of his chair and started to pace. He moved in an uncanny mirror of Gohan, gesturing as he talked. "But it would be weird for Goku to be in Satan City too, and I should have been following his ki. Then I'd know what was going on!" 

"Slow down, Trunks." 

"But if he was attacked in some way, his ki would have flared up again, and I would have sensed it. Or you would have sensed it, right?" 

"Of course –" Gohan began. 

"So if he was attacked, then he was incapacitated before he had chance to respond." 

"Why do you think he was attacked?" Gohan forcibly held Trunks in place. "Listen, Trunks, there is nothing on this planet that could have taken Goten. Well, except for one of us, and you know none of us would do that. It was an accident." 

"But I…" Trunks trailed off at Gohan's expression. It was completely closed off. "You're right, Gohan. Could you let go of me?" 

Gohan did so, looking faintly surprised. "I'm sorry, Trunks. I'm just worried about my brother." 

"That's all right, Gohan-san." Trunks edged toward the door. "We can go see him now, right?" He had the door open and was out into the hallway before the older Saiyan had the chance to respond. 

Goten's room wasn't that hard to find; he could sense his friend's ki clearly, low as it was. No one was watching, and he slipped inside. Except for Goten himself, the room was empty. The steady beeping of various monitoring devices were both reassuring and disturbing; as long as they sounded, Goten was all right. On the other hand, that there was a need for them at all was frightening. 

Trunks crept closer, keeping his own ki suppressed and moving silently so as not to alert anyone outside to his presence. "Goten…" Not so much as a flicker. Nothing to reassure Trunks that the other Saiyan was aware of his presence at all. He trailed a hand over Goten's face, around the oxygen mask and the bandages covering the gash over his left eye. "What happened to you?" 

A snippet of conversation ran through his mind. His father had hit him during a sparring session, and he had failed to block. Vegeta hadn't been expecting that, and as a result had not pulled the punch. Just before waking up, Trunks remembered feeling the odd sensation of his father's "voice" inside his head, and had asked about it later. Vegeta had told him that Saiyans were mildly telepathic with each other, but that his human blood probably weakened that aspect of his heritage. He'd never mentioned it again. 

~Goten?~ 

He wasn't even sure if he could reach the younger boy like this, wasn't sure how it worked at all. 

~Goten? Can you hear me?~ 

A brief sensation of _other_ pervaded his mind and vanished. Encouraged, Trunks reached out again, projecting outwards with all of his considerable will. 

~Goten, it's me. Trunks. Say something.~ 

He had no warning. The sense of _other_ returned, overwhelmingly strong, threatening to wash away his sense of identity. Trunks pulled back, but it was too late. A sense of vertigo enclosed his thoughts, fading only reluctantly. He opened his eyes slowly, intending to go find his father and ask him to properly demonstrate telepathic etiquette. 

The hospital room was gone. 

He was standing in absolute blackness, so dark that he was unable even to determine whether or not he had actually opened his eyes or not. He groaned mentally. "Don't tell me I blew the power systems…" His voice sounded dead, as if the auditory vibrations were dampened before they got anywhere. But if he'd managed to cut the power… "Goten!" He took a step forward, and everything changed. 

The black melted away, and he stood in front of a wall. A single break in the gray stone might have been a door. He turned around, but there was nothing behind him. A gray plain extended as far as he could see beneath a silver sky. "Goten?" 

At the sound of his voice, the air brightened, just for a second. Trunks shivered and turned back to the wall. Easiest way to see what was on the other side was to fly… Upon trying, he discovered that he had somehow lost the ability. The situation was beginning to get truly unnerving. Trunks walked up to the break in the wall and slipped through, silently, keeping his senses extended. As far as he could tell, there was nothing alive here except himself. 

The wall was thicker than he thought it was, and the break appeared to be not a door, but the patient work of someone outside slowly chipping their way inwards. It was barely tall enough to accommodate him, and in a few places almost too narrow. The other side was nothing like he'd expected. Blue skies flickered over the silver he'd seen outside, and verdant life ran rampant. Green, so many shades it hurt the eyes, sparkling water, sunlight… all of it faded in and out. In its place lay dusty stone, a maze winding crazily in every direction. "Goten, are you in here?" 

The sound of childish laughter caught his attention, and he walked towards it. As he got closer, he could see the source. It was a child, perhaps seven or eight, lilac-haired. The child turned around. It wore his face. Come on, Goten, the child said. This'll be fun! 

The peculiar not-sound of the child's voice, his own voice, rang inside Trunks' head. 

Are you sure we won't get in trouble? The owner of this not-voice wasn't immediately visible, but the child turned around and looked directly at Trunks. 

Of course not. The Trunks-child grinned. 

Trunks remembered that day. He and Goten had thought it would be a good day to sneak outside and go… somewhere. Gohan had caught them both before they'd gotten very far, and they'd been grounded for a week. 

Well, okay… this not-voice sounded almost like Goten, just a little higher-pitched. The child that resembled him so eerily ran off, shouting for him to follow and then vanished. 

Trunks took a step forward, looking for the child, and the world shifted again. He had his hand on a doorknob, and the door itself was swinging open. It was the front door to Goten's house, and Goku stood on the other side. "Morning, Trunks!" 

"Ah, good morning, Goku-san." His hair was short… it was odd, as Trunks had never seen the older Saiyan with anything other than a wild mop of spikes. 

"Silly." Goku made a face and punched Trunks in the shoulder. "I'm not my dad." 

"Oh, right." Confusing was not the appropriate word. 

"Come on in." This version of Goten turned around and walked back into the house, leaving the door open. Trunks followed, cautiously, closing the door and taking off his shoes out of habit. 

"Oh, you don't need to do that," Goten laughed. He was framed by the sunlight shining in through the window, highlighted, wrapped in luminescence. "Mom's not here, remember? She left." 

"Right," Trunks repeated. The light was too bright, the shadows too dark; the contrast between the two grated on his vision and the sound of Goten's voice echoed unnervingly through his skull. 

"You okay, Trunks? You look a little pale." 

"No, I… I'm fine." 

"Here, sit down." Goten came back into view. He looked different, somehow. He wrapped an arm around Trunks' shoulders. 

"No, I…" Trunks started to pull back, but Goten tightened his grip. 

"Dammit, if I tell you to sit down you will damn well…" 

"Stop!" Trunks wrenched himself away from the image of his friend and the world shattered again. Broken glass littered the ground around him. 

"Oops," someone said sheepishly. "The window wasn't as strong as I thought it was, I guess. Sorry 'bout that." 

Trunks remembered that, too. He twisted around and sure enough, a thirteen-year-old version of himself stood looking down. 

"C'mon, Goten." 

Trunks climbed slowly to his feet. "Either I've gone crazy, or I'm in your head. That's it, isn't it?" 

The younger version of himself stood still, frozen like a holographic image. 

"Cut it out, Goten! I want to talk to you!" 

An insistent tugging on his shirt caught his attention. It was Goten, maybe four years old. "He can't talk to you," the chibi whispered. 

Trunks crouched down. "Why not?" 

The chibi shrugged. "Nii-chan said… he's gonna be done studying soon! Maybe we can play! Don't you wanna play with us, Trunks?" 

"That's all he ever wants to do." 

It was yet another version of himself, eight years old, dressed in the green gi he'd worn to the memorable World Tournament that had been interrupted by Maajin Buu. More memories. Great. 

"I'm not a memory!" 

It had actually heard him? 

"Hey, talk to me, not about me. I know who you are. You're me." And the kid leaned against something nonchalantly. 

"I'm what?" It was yet another bizarre concept to grasp. Any one oddity he could have dealt with, no problem. It was just that they were piling up faster than he could keep track of them. 

"When we fused. Duh. Part of you got stuck in here, and part of him got stuck in you. 'Cept now it looks like _all_ of you is stuck in here." 

Okay. Trunks took a deep breath. "Where is Goten? The real Goten?" 

"Everywhere." The younger Trunks waved a dismissive hand. "He won't come out to talk, though. Something bad happened, and he's scared." He snorted derisively. "Baby." 

"What? What happened?" 

"I dunno." The child shrugged. "I don't see everything that goes on, you know." He dropped his voice. "It had something to do with Gohan, I think. He knows something." 

"Gohan does?" 

"Goten!" The child looked as if he were about to stamp his foot, and instead crossed his arms in an imitation of his father. "Maybe something Gohan doesn't want him to know. I don't know. He shut me out." He stood up straight and dusted off his hands. "Now I've got some ass to kick. Go away." He advanced on Trunks, grabbed his shirt, and lifted him off the ground. 

"What do you think you're –" Trunks struggled, but the kid had a death-grip on him. Within seconds, he found himself flying through murky air, landing hard on an unyielding surface. "Ouch." 

"You're all right!" It was Gohan, and he sounded surprised. 

"Of course I'm all right," Trunks replied automatically before opening his eyes. A very worried Gohan stood above him. "Why?" 

"I found you lying on the floor in here." Gohan pulled Trunks to his feet, and Trunks realized that he was standing next to the still-unconscious Goten. "You're lucky no one else saw you. What happened?" 

"I, uh…" Given what the version he had seen of himself had said, Trunks found himself strangely reluctant to trust Gohan. "I just felt kinda dizzy. That's all I really remember." 

"Maybe we should get you checked out, then." Nothing other than honest concern was in Gohan's dark eyes. 

"No, no." Trunks backed towards the door. "I, um, haven't eaten since… in a while. It's probably just low blood sugar." 

Gohan moved slightly, almost as if to block Trunks from leaving, but Pan got in the way. "Uncle Goten?" She was looking at Trunks. 

"No, Pan-chan, he's still not awake." Trunks ruffled the little girl's hair. 

"When?" Big dark eyes pleaded for an answer, and Trunks had none to give. 

/I think Gohan is hiding something. Goten as much as told me. That is, if I was really inside his mind. I'm still not sure it wasn't all some crazy dream. The weirdest thing – and there's a lot to choose from – is that I don't sense any malicious intent from Gohan at all. But that doesn't _fit_! 

The facts, as I know them: - Goten is in a coma, resulting from a train crash that shouldn't have been able to hurt him. - Goten was injured before he was on that train. - Gohan is hiding something. - Goten is afraid. Of Gohan? 

But that implies that Gohan is the one who hurt Goten, and he would never hurt his brother. Unless…./ 

Trunks chewed on the end of his pen. If Gohan had pounded his brother into submission, he had either had a damn good reason, or he'd been possessed. 

/Either way, Gohan is my only lead. The only way I can figure out what happened. 

Oh yeah, before I forget, I haven't told anyone else what I've written here. I don't know now who I can trust. My father wouldn't believe me. Gohan… Gohan is the problem. My mother? She's known Gohan longer than any of us. As much as I hate to say it, she'd believe him over me. My sister couldn't do a damn thing, and Chi Chi… She'd tell Gohan. And that's the last thing I want. All the others… the other Z Senshi, the ones who used to fight, they've all known Gohan since he was a little kid. He's never done anything without a good reason. But if he finds out that I know what he did – allegedly – he'll do the same thing to me that he did to Goten./ 

The next logical step was to follow Gohan around. Not in person, of course; Gohan would have noticed anyone tailing him within minutes. No, Trunks had another method. In Dr. Gero's lab had been various notes and blueprints. The information on Juunanagou had been removed by Krillin and Trunks' future counterpart. Attached to those sheets of paper were the blueprints for the tiny tiny machine that had tracked Goku for over a decade. It was fairly easy to construct, using the materials available in CC's lab. What was much more difficult was keeping it secret from his mother. 

Difficulties aside, the tracker was assembled and ready. A live audio/video feed bounced off a satellite and into the receiver at Capsule Corps. Resolution wasn't the greatest, but Trunks could see enough. The audio was worse, but at least it wasn't silent. Trunks sent the bug home with Pan, crossed his fingers, and waited. 

It was a perfect setup, and nothing went wrong. The bug got to Gohan's, latched onto his signature, and trailed him silently. It went unnoticed, except for nearly being squished by Videl on one occasion. And yet, Trunks was utterly frustrated. 

Gohan wasn't _doing_ anything. Oh, he followed a daily routine, training, studying, lecturing. He spent time with his wife and daughter. He visited his brother. He visited his mother, invited her to stay with him so she wouldn't be alone. He tried to contact his father, with no success. 

Trunks had just turned the monitor back on after _not_ watching Gohan and Videl reaffirming their physical relationship during an afternoon when Pan was visiting Marron when someone knocked on his door. Cursing under his breath, he switched the monitor back off again. "What?" 

"Trunks, you've been in there for almost a week. Come outside. I'm worried about you." It was his mother. 

"I'm fine." Trunks made no move to open the door. 

"Honey, I'm sure Goten's going to be fine. Moping around isn't going to help him any." She paused for a moment. "Gohan says he almost woke up today." 

"I…" Well, at least she had misinterpreted his self-imposed seclusion. "I'm okay, mom, really." 

"Trunks, if you don't open that door, I'm coming in." 

He cursed again. Quietly. "All right, all right." After making sure the monitor was off, he checked the feed. It was live and recording. He could check an hour's worth of data later. He opened the door just as Bulma started pounding on it again, wincing away from the light in the hall. 

"Oh, honey, you look terrible. Come on, eat something. Goten is going to be fine. You don't need to make yourself sick worrying about him." 

"No, Mom, I'm fine." Trunks attempted to fend off her ministrations. It was futile. Bulma was as stubborn as her husband. 

She dragged him downstairs. "Here. Drink some soup and then get some sleep. You don't look like you've slept much." 

"I…" Trunks gave up. "I haven't. Worried, and all." It was true. He'd slept only when he was sure Gohan was asleep, and even then made sure to keep himself from falling into a truly deep sleep in order to be able to monitor Gohan's movements. 

"It's going to be all right." Bulma handed him a steaming mug, and steered him into the living room. "Sit down." 

He didn't want to drink it. He really didn't. But to deny Bulma was damn near impossible. He capitulated. It was chicken soup. Probably something his mother had actually tried to cook herself, given the slightly bitter aftertaste. She really was worried about him. 

Trunks handed the mug back. "Thanks, mom." 

She smiled. "No problem. Oh – Gohan is going to go visit Goten in a few minutes. I'll have him tell Goten you said hi." 

"No, wait." Trunks struggled upright. "I'll go with him." His mother's voice was strangely far away. 

"Just get some sleep, Trunks." She pushed him back down, and he lost the battle. She was conspiring with Gohan, making sure he couldn't watch him around Goten! Then even his thoughts faded. 

* * *

Trunks woke up in his own bed. The video equipment was still recording, but the warning light told him that there were only a few minutes of space left, and the angle of sunlight through the window told him it was early evening. A sound from behind him had him in a fighting stance before he actively thought about what he was doing. He hadn't even sensed any ki. 

"Calm down, Trunks." Gohan. Gohan was in here. He could have… "I'm not going to hurt you." 

Trunks realized he was not only in a fighting stance, but on the verge of transforming into a Super Saiyan. "Oh. Sorry, Gohan-san. I guess I'm a little jumpy." 

"Are you feeling better?" There was nothing but honest concern in Gohan's face. "Your mother said you weren't feeling well yesterday." 

"I, uh, I'm fine." Trunks began to climb off the bed and realized that his clothes were missing. "Um, Gohan-san…" 

"Here." Gohan handed him a stack of cloth. "You were pretty out of it last night, but I thought you'd sleep better if you weren't fully dressed. You don't mind, do you?" 

"Ah, of course not." Trunks dressed, keeping one eye and all other senses trained on Gohan. "Is… Is Goten awake? Mom said he almost woke up last… I mean, night before last." 

Gohan shook his head regretfully. "He hasn't changed. They say the longer he stays like this, the worse his chances are." An unreadable expression overtook his features. "Are you sure you're all right, Trunks? You haven't been acting like yourself since the accident. No one is going to hurt you, I promise. I know you think someone attacked Goten, but…" 

"I…" Trunks had a split second to respond. One wrong move, and he would never be able to find out just what had happened to Goten. He started moving towards Gohan, nearly shouting. "Of course not! Goten is in the _hospital_ and he won't wake up and I… I want him back…" Trunks allowed himself to fall against Gohan's chest, sobbing. "I just want Goten to be all right…" 

"Ssh, it's okay." Gohan smoothed Trunks' hair down. "I'm sure he'll be fine." 

Trunks looked up at him through tear-clouded eyes. "R-really?" 

Gohan hesitated a split second before replying. "Really. Why don't you come downstairs and get something to eat, Trunks?" 

Trunks scrubbed a hand across his eyes. "Okay, Gohan-san." 

The second Gohan left the room, he switched the data disks in the computer and put the used one in his pocket. Gohan was up to something. He was sure of it. He just hoped his performance had been enough to throw the older man off the trail. Only… it hadn't been purely theatrics. He was more worried about Goten than he wanted to admit. 

Over the next few days, Trunks got no chance to either view the contents of the data disk or visit Goten without Gohan's accompaniment. It was as if the Son was bound and determined to leave Trunks no opportunity to figure out what was going on. In those few days, Trunks saw more of Gohan than he had in the past six months. His only consolation was that while Gohan was watching him, it would be impossible to carry out any underhanded machinations. Not that Trunks had seen him do it, in any case. 

/I'm almost sure now that if I could just get a few minutes to look at this disk, I'd have proof. Proof of what Gohan did. But I can't get even a few seconds alone. He's always there. He's been sleeping at Capsule Corps., lately. My mother asked him to stay with us for a little while, to make me feel better. I knew she was in on it. 

And Goten… he's looking worse. I can feel his ki slipping. Or, not slipping, but becoming more unstable. What did Gohan do to him? If I could get him to swallow a senzu bean, it would be all right. He could tell me what was going on. Maybe if I tried to go into his mind again, I could learn something. 

The disk is in my pocket. I have to keep it with me at all times. I can't risk anyone else finding out about it, not even my father. He… wouldn't help me anyway. Besides, he's off looking for Goku-san. None of us know where he is, or have felt his ki recently. If I could get just a few minutes, I could/ 

"What is that, Trunks?" 

Trunks slammed the tiny book shut. "Nothing. I mean, it's just a, that is…" 

"You keep a journal?" Gohan looked more amused than anything else. "It's a good idea, you know. It clears your mind." 

Trunks loosened his grip on the book slightly. "Um, yeah." 

"Are you ready to go?" 

Today was the day that Gohan went to go visit Satan City. Mr. Satan demanded to see his daughter at regular intervals; to make sure that Gohan was treating her properly, he said. Gohan, in the past, had simply smiled. Underneath the old man's blustering was a deep affection for his daughter, and Gohan understood perfectly. This time was no different, except that Gohan insisted that Trunks accompany them. 

"It would be good for him," he had explained to Videl. "He's been upset since Goten… well, we're all upset. But I think he'll feel a little better if he comes with us." 

Videl hadn't put up much of an argument. She was more concerned with keeping track of her daughter, and one more person along meant one more pair of eyes that would notice if Pan got into trouble. The which she was adept at. 

"I'm not feeling very well, Gohan-san." It really wasn't too far from the truth. He still hadn't slept, trying to find just a short time to look at the disk. And yet every time he got near a computer, someone poked their head in the door. The tension made it impossible to eat, and the lack of nutrients were wreaking havoc on his metabolism. 

"It would be good for you to come with us." That was not a benevolent expression on Gohan's face. Trunks was sure of it. 

"I, um, just need to get some sleep." 

"Gohan? Let's go!" It was Videl, calling from down the hall. "Pan's asleep, and I want to get there before she wakes up!" 

Gohan's face closed off, just for a second. "I'll see you when I get back, then." 

Trunks nodded. "Hai, Gohan-san." 

Only when Gohan's ki signature had faded into the distance, did he pull the disk out of his pocket. He inserted it into the machine, and started the playback. 

The signal had degraded somewhat as Gohan had entered the hospital. Maybe it had something to do with the various emissions put off by the equipment inside; Trunks neither knew nor cared. He glanced over at the live feed showing on the second monitor. Gohan was driving, Videl held Pan. Good. 

Gohan had gone into Goten's room after a brief talk with one of the doctors; the man had seemed almost hopeful. The static worsened around Goten, and Trunks could barely make out any sound at all. Gohan leaned over his younger brother, smoothed the hair out of his closed eyes. He spoke quietly, but the audio was too distorted. All Trunks caught were the words "I'm sorry". 

"Sorry for what, Gohan?" He didn't realize he'd said the words aloud at first. 

The audio cleared slightly, and Gohan's voice overrode his. "…didn't mean for this to happen. I'd have stayed…" Static hissed again, swallowing the rest of Gohan's statement. Gohan's image turned to leave, and Trunks moved to shut off the monitor. His hand hovered above the switch, and something caught his attention. 

"Nii-chan?" That voice was perfectly clear. Goten's eyes were open. He started to sit up, and Gohan put hands on his shoulders and pressed him back down. "What…?" 

"Goten." From the camera angle, Trunks couldn't see Gohan's face, but Goten smiled in response. "How do you feel?" The static rose again after that, and Trunks couldn't quite make out Goten's response. Gohan nodded once, and said something. Confusion spread over Goten's features. Gohan placed a hand on his brother's forehead and summoned ki. A glow lit the room, flashing only briefly but so brightly that Trunks had to cover his eyes. When it faded, Gohan was backing away from his once again comatose brother. 

Trunks paused the playback. The equipment in the room showed no sign of having been met by destructive ki. In fact, nothing did, including Goten. If Gohan had hit his brother with a ki blast, it would have been clearly visible. The fact that it wasn't meant… that Gohan had done something else entirely. But what? Trunks started the playback again, but Gohan had done nothing else. In fact, he had sat and watched Trunks for several hours directly following the hospital visit. At one point, he had reached a hand out, laying it on Trunks' forehead. Trunks shuddered as the image of his unconscious self pulled away from Gohan's touch, and Gohan withdrew. Gohan had not, however, found any of the recording equipment. Eventually, he had gotten up and left, spending the day with his daughter before returning to Capsule Corps. 

"Goten… What did he do to you?" Trunks shut the playback off altogether as it started showing the conversation he'd had with Gohan upon awakening. He glanced at the monitor showing Gohan's current activity. The oldest half-Saiyan was standing outside his door. 

Trunks shut off the monitor, leaving the equipment running, and directing the feed to a hand-held unit. This unit went in the pocket of his blue jacket. It didn't have near the memory of the stationary computer, but at least it was less detectable. And mobile. Trunks took a deep breath and opened the door. The hallway was empty. He could barely feel Gohan's ki, waiting outside his window. So. He was being stalked. 

Trunks crept out the door, suppressing his ki to absolute zero. He moved soundlessly out the back of the complex, keeping his senses extended. Gohan remained outside his window, just standing there. Trunks caught a glimpse of himself in a window; his hair had grown out, and with the blue jacket, he looked eerily like the future counterpart he had only seen pictures of. Shaking off a sense of cold, he ran in a straight line away from Capsule Corps. and towards Satan City. 

* * * 

A few miles out he lost track of Gohan's ki. Not wanting to be spotted from the air, he paid for a bus ticket and watched the landscape slide by. The inverted deep blue dome of sky seemed somehow smaller from inside the lighted vehicle, and the stars were muted. 

Gohan knew, now. And Trunks couldn't go back until he was strong enough to face and defeat Gohan. Or until he knew why Gohan had seemingly gone crazy. The older man was doing a good job of maintaining his façade of normalcy, though. Or everyone was. Trunks was more and more convinced that a conspiracy of the highest order had grown around… something. Something that Goten had found out. And he had discovered it here, in Satan City. 

Determined to retrace Goten's steps, Trunks remained ignorant of the enormity of his task. He had at best a vague memory of where Goten's ki had vanished. He knew nothing of the exact reason behind it; a person's ki could diminish simply by landing after a fight. He became enlightened as to his lack of knowledge within the first hour of searching. He didn't even know what he was looking for. It did not lessen his determination. 

He'd been trawling the streets of the east district – where he thought he'd felt Goten's ki lessen – for nearly a week when he thought he saw Goku. He'd kept his own energy levels suppressed, not wanting to be found. Within the first three days of his disappearance from Capsule Corps, he had had a very close call with Gohan. After that, he'd dyed his hair black. The pale lilac was just too distinctive. Keeping his senses extended and his ki suppressed was one of the most delicate and difficult exercises he'd ever done in his life. The control required was incredible, and sometimes he saw "sensor ghosts". At one point, he could have sworn he felt Piccolo, but the source of the energy was nothing more than a leafy green tree. 

Given these discrepancies, he doubted himself when Goku's unmistakable spiky Saiyan hair appeared in the middle of a crowd and began working its way purposefully towards the edge. Then again, he was seeing this with his eyes. He had yet to see visual hallucinations. Depressing his energy even further, Trunks started following the familiar figure. 

He'd gotten two blocks when it struck him that the man he was following had no energy at all. And it wasn't just that it was being hidden; he felt absolutely nothing from this man at all. It was as if the man wasn't even there at all. It was an eerily familiar sensation, one that Trunks stored in the back of his mind for later retrieval and analysis. He looked away for just a second, fixing the location in his memory, and when he looked back, Goku was gone. 

Trunks rushed towards the spot where he'd seen the Saiyan, but there was nothing there. He hadn't really expected anything. No doors swinging shut. Nobody was even on the tiny street. When had all the people vanished? Trunks took one last look down the narrow alleyway and turned back towards the center of the city. 

Unseen in the darkness, two eyes lit briefly. The reflected light dimmed as the figure dipped its head and padded in the opposite direction of the half-Saiyan once-warrior. 

* * *

Trunks wandered the streets of Satan City for another week before determining his manner of investigation to be hopeless. He did not see Goku a second time, or feel the peculiar lack of energy. Trying to talk to Goten again seemed to him to be a possible course of action; he'd managed to make contact with his friend once, after all. He'd just have to make sure not to get caught. 

He was in the same area that he'd seen Goku in when he came to this decision; looking out of his thoughts, he noticed the selfsame alley. It was still deserted, still dark and lifeless. On a whim, he walked into it. Pavement cracked beneath his boots, sickly plants reaching for a light that they would never see wearing away at the concrete. It was dry; dusty. Trunks touched both walls, one with either hand; the space between the buildings was barely wide enough for more than one person to walk comfortably. Eyes narrowed in the gloom, peering ahead, he did not register the presence behind him until it spoke. 

"Son." 

Trunks was facing the person, power level just below Super Saiyan, and body in a fighting stance before his mind had time to adjust to the shock. Standing there… it was Goku. Wearing red. 

"Son?" 

It was a question this time. Trunks nodded slowly. "Goku-san?" 

"Ki pattern validated. Son. Registry number: 0003753. Report?" 

"What's going on?" Trunks backed away from the man he'd known most of his life. 

"ID pattern confirmed." Goku nodded and walked out of the alley. Or, not so much walked as glided, moving too quickly for a confused Trunks to keep up. When Trunks managed to gather his composure and run to the mouth of the alley, Goku was gone, and Trunks knew where he'd felt that lack of energy. 

Juuhachigou had frightened him as a child, because she felt "cold". He had later learned that it was because her ki was not detectable by normal methods. While he had never seen her brother, Juunanagou, or met the behemoth Juurokugou, Gohan had told him once about the lack of energy he'd felt from the androids. It was the same as he now felt from Goku. As if the man wasn't _there_. 

So… that wasn't Goku? Trunks growled in frustration. It was more important than ever that he speak to Goten, and find out what he knew, so that he could stop Gohan. Trunks stopped dead as he realized that not only was Gohan affected, but if Goku had been replaced, or altered, that his own father probably had been as well; wasn't he off looking for Goku? Either that, or Vegeta was in the same condition as Goten. Trunks clenched his fists and took off running. He had to stop this before it was too late. 

Trunks had forgotten about the moment of raising his ki; it wasn't long before he saw both Vegeta and Gohan hovering in the sky above him. They'd seen him first. 

"Trunks," Vegeta landed, keeping a cautious distance from his son. "I'm here to take you home, son." 

Trunks was now certain that Vegeta had been gotten to. He was never ever this solicitous. "I can't do that, Dad." He backed away, keeping an eye on Gohan. "I have to stop this." 

Vegeta glanced at Gohan, but Trunks couldn't see Gohan's reaction. "It's going to be all right, Trunks. You're going to be fine." 

Trunks shook his head. "I don't know what they did to you, Dad, but I'm going to stop them. I promise." He brought his hands up to his face in a move he'd learned from Krillin a few years ago. "Solar Flare!" 

As soon as the light leapt out, blinding everyone in the vicinity, Trunks took off running and jumped into the air. If he could get to Goten before they realized where he was going, he could find out what the youngest Son knew, and stop Gohan. 

Luck was either on his side, or playing a cosmic joke. Trunks got to the hospital without detecting the ki of anyone who might pose a threat. However, when he got to the room Goten had been in two weeks ago, his friend was gone. 

"Can I help you?" A remarkably pretty girl in a nurse's uniform tapped him on the shoulder. 

Trunks swallowed. "I.. I'm looking for Son Goten. He was in here two weeks ago?" 

"Oh." The girl's face fell. "You too? We're really not supposed to allow visitors," she dropped her voice, "but since it really doesn't make any difference any more…" She started off down the hallway. 

Trunks grabbed her by the elbow. "What do you mean, doesn't make a difference? Is he all right?" 

Her eyes widened. "You mean… you didn't come to… I'm so sorry. We don't expect him to last much longer." 

Trunks didn't realize he'd dropped her arm and backed away until he hit the wall behind him. "I… I want to see him now." 

Goten's face was nearly chalk-white, his chest barely moving. Trunks reached out a shaking hand, traced the line of his friend's mouth over the oxygen tube. "Goten… I'm so sorry…" Goten stirred, nearly smiled, and then sank back into nothing. 

"Goten?" Trunks knelt down, trying to get just a little closer. "Goten, can you hear me?" Goten's ki flickered upwards, hovering briefly. "Come on, Goten, I know you're in there. Come on out." Trunks closed his eyes, took one of Goten's limp hands in his, and reached out like he had before. ~Goten.~ 

Goten's ki took an alarming dive, and Trunks reached out with his own energy, trying to bridge the gap somehow. He could almost see Goten's life force, being pulled on by something. He took hold of it, and pulled back. 

It was the wrong thing to do. 

Goten stiffened, and the EKG flatlined. Trunks let go, hastily, and jumped to his feet. The monitor started beeping again, uncertainly. ~Goten, I know you can hear me. I need you to respond.~ 

The sense of other he'd felt before swirled up around him, weaker than before, and Trunks opened his eyes inside a darkened room. "Goten?" 

A sound drew his attention to the corner. Goten sat there, barefoot, huddled into himself, arms clasped around his knees. "Trunks-kun?" 

"Goten…" Trunks dropped down beside his friend. "What happened to you?" 

Goten threw himself at Trunks. "I wanted to tell you… I wanted you to know…" 

"Goten, what happened?" 

Goten shook his head. "I found my father, Trunks. But he was different, somehow. And he said that I had to be authorized by…by Gohan, and what was my mission…" 

"I saw him too." Trunks nodded. "But I don't think that was your father, Goten." 

"No, I guess not. But he looked just like him, Trunks-kun! And then Gohan came, and he got this really funny look, and wanted to know what I was doing there. And Tou-san said the planet would be cleared if the protocol wasn't followed, and why weren't the regulations being enforced? And Nii-chan said they would be, and… and then Tou-san said he was gonna take me with him, and Nii-chan said no he couldn't, and then somethin' hit me… And next thing I 'member was Nii-chan hitting me and then saying that the problem had been taken care of…" Goten buried his face in Trunks' shirt. "And it's been cold ever since…" 

Trunks rubbed Goten's shoulders. "It's okay, chibi. It's gonna be okay." 

The younger half-Saiyan nodded dully. "If you say so, Trunks-kun." His voice was muffled. "I think you should go now." 

"Are you alright?" Trunks frowned. Something sounded off. 

Goten nodded. "I don't want you to get stuck." 

"Stuck?" 

Goten looked away and refused to answer. 

"Goten…" 

"I really think you should go, Trunks-kun." Goten stood abruptly, and hauled Trunks to his feet. "You're not safe." He was still holding onto Trunks, and the lilac-haired half-Saiyan moved to extract himself from Goten's grasp. Success was debatable. Goten picked him up and threw him. 

Trunks landed on the floor beside Goten's comatose form. Two huge ki's were moving rapidly towards their position. Gohan and Vegeta. Trunks glanced over at his friend. No way was he leaving him behind. He couldn't do it. Gohan would kill his brother if he found any evidence of Trunks there, and there was no time to conceal his presence. Trunks ripped the machines out of Goten's body, ignoring the alarms, and gathered the surprisingly-light weight in his arms. 

The window shattered under his assault, and Trunks fled with all of the considerable speed at his disposal. He had to get Goten somewhere to force senzu down his throat. He had to be able to do it. Except… Trunks cursed. He had no senzu, at least not anywhere accessible to him. He changed his trajectory and headed for Kami's Lookout. 

* * *

Dende had been through many types of hell in his lifetime. It was therefore reasonable to expect that at some point things would smooth over. Reasonable, but not realistic. He wasn't particularly surprised when Trunks rocketed over the lip of the Lookout like the worst demons of the underworld were chasing him. More surprising was his burden. 

"Dende!" He looked terrible. As if he hadn't slept in days. And he was carrying… 

"Is there a problem, Trunks?" It was a stupid question, but it was all Dende could manage to get out. 

Trunks thrust his burden towards the god. "Heal him, Dende. Heal him. I need you to save his life." 

Goten moaned as he was exposed to the cold air of the Lookout, twisting in pain. Dende frowned. Most of his injuries looked old. Weeks old. "Trunks –" 

"Do it!" The wild look in his eyes was not to be belied. Dende sighed. For once, he really missed Piccolo's brooding presence. He extended his hands and sent a current of energy towards the youngest Son. It was more difficult than he had thought it would be, and he had to use a surprising amount of Goten's depleted energy to accomplish the task. Trunks hovered, shooting glances back the way he had come, and keeping his ki tightly contained. "Are you finished?" 

Dende nodded, exhausted. "He needs sleep, but he should wake up fairly soon. What happened to …" But Trunks was already gone, taking Goten with him. 

* * *

Goten's energy was barely detectable, but it was stable. Trunks landed as far away from people as he could, depressing his ki as soon as he was close enough to the ground to land without injuring himself. It made a rough landing, but they were both in one piece. "It's gonna be all right. I'm going to leave you here for a little while, but I'll be back soon." Trunks dropped a kiss on Goten's forehead. 

Making sure that Goten was hidden from the air was easy. Making the young Son let go of his hand was a little more difficult. Trunks cast around for Gohan's ki as soon as he got far enough away from Goten that he wouldn't give away his friend's location. He couldn't sense it anywhere, and that made him suspicious. He couldn't sense Vegeta either. In fact, he couldn't sense any ki at all. It was as if his sixth sense had been shut off. A sound behind him made that particular realization not nearly as important. 

"Son?" It was Goku again. "Registry number." 

Trunks cast desperately around in his memory. "Zero, zero, zero, three, seven, five, three." 

Goku nodded pleasantly. "You are to be detained and taken to the Imperator, 0003753." 

"_What_?" Trunks started to back away, only to run into someone. Goku's voice sounded from behind him. 

"You are in violation –" 

"Wait!" Gohan landed. Or perhaps landed was not quite the correct term; he fell from a height of several meters and left a sizeable impact crater. "It's not his fault." 

The images of Goku flickered and dissolved, leaving simple metallic shells behind. "Clarify." 

"I am responsible. He doesn't know a damn thing." 

"You said that last time, Son Gohan. It does not seem to have rectified the situation." One of the shells spoke, but it was as if the voice was directed in from elsewhere. 

"You can clean his memory, can't you?" Gohan sounded sincere enough now. "And leave him with me. I'll make sure he doesn't interfere again." 

"None of you is touching me!" Despite his sudden lack of ability to call on his ki to aid his fighting skills, Trunks dropped into a fighting stance. "I'm going to stop this, Gohan!" 

"Trunks, you don't understand. Just… be quiet, all right?" 

"I understand enough. I'm not going to let you –" 

"Trunks, shut up!" 

The raw edge in Gohan's voice penetrated through Trunks' anger, and he fell silent. The voice spoke through the shell again, amused. "So passionate. Perhaps we will let you live after all, Son Gohan." 

Gohan bowed. "Thank you, Imperator." 

"Our business is concluded. You will enforce all new regulations and laws. I shall return in six months to measure your progress. If it is not satisfactory, you will be executed and your planet cleared." 

Gohan bowed again. "Thank you, Imperator." Trunks started to protest once again, but the older Son shot him a hard look, and he quieted out of force of habit. 

The air behind the shell shimmered, and a door materialized. The shells swept into it, followed by several others, all identical. One last shell barely made it through the door before it irised shut and the ship lifted off. The bubble around it melted away, and Trunks felt Gohan's ki. 

"Gohan…" He glanced upwards at the truly awesome structure making its majestic way towards outer space. "You had better have a good explanation for this, Gohan." 

"Just wait about… fifteen seconds." Gohan didn't look away from the ship. It cleared the atmosphere, the light it gave off still visible to the naked eye. It paused for one moment, seemed to stretch, and a giant explosion ripped through the air. The ship was completely gone. Streamers of brilliant color trailed outwards from ground zero, painting the sky with rainbows. 

"Gohan-san…" 

Gohan ran a hand through his spiky hair. "I'll explain, but only to you. And you are not to breathe a word of this to anyone else." 

Trunks nodded, still not fully trusting the other half-Saiyan. 

"That was the central control of a budding empire. When Trunks… I mean, Mirai Trunks killed Frieza and King Cold, a power vacuum opened up. Various races have been struggling for supremacy ever since. That one probably had the greatest chance to make it; they're incredibly technologically advanced. From what I could get out of their records, the central authority, the Imperator, travels through space; no fixed location means it's harder for an assassin to get a fix on him. Or her. I don't know. They land on a planet, manufacture these shells to look like the first inhabitant they encounter, and send them out to gather information. As soon as enough data has been gathered, they send in an invasion force and take the planet's population." 

"We could have fought –" Trunks started. 

"Underneath their canopy? They had a device that makes the use of our ki impossible. I'm sure you noticed that while you stood next to their ship you couldn't feel anything. Or power up. No, fighting would only have gotten us all killed. I found one of their shells; they looked like Tou-san. He's fine, by the way. He's recovering back at home by now. Vegeta should have gotten him there safely. I told the Imperator that I would have the planet under his control, that I had ties to its key figures. Fortunately, he was intrigued enough by my offer, and the opportunity not to have to waste soldiers, that he accepted. He wanted me to think that he had the power to raze this place to the ground, no problem. I got into his computer using one of the shells, though, and he was running short on resources. He'd fight for this place if he had to, but the alternative I offered was too attractive. So he agreed, provided that I managed to bring the population under control within a given time, no snags. Goten stumbled across us, though, and I had to take him out before he interfered. I didn't want to kill him, or hurt him, but the shells got in the way. I tried at one point to get rid of the ki-draining field around him, but it only made it worse." 

"Dende healed him," Trunks interjected. "He said he'd be fine." 

Gohan smiled, a look of pure relief crossing his features. "I didn't want my brother to die, Trunks, but when it came down to a choice between him and the rest of the world…" He bowed his head. "I did what I had to do." After a brief pause, he continued speaking. "Using that same shell, I uploaded a computer virus. One of Dr. Gero's creations, ironically enough, modified to slip through the cracks in their system. That shell spread the virus into the ship and hopefully into the rest of the Imperator's empire. Even if it failed in that, at least the Imperator himself is gone." 

"Are you sure? I mean, are you sure he was really there, and that he's not going to retaliate?" Trunks crossed his arms. 

Gohan laughed. "I'm sure. And believe me, even if he isn't, that virus is going to go through every one of his systems like a plague. And only his. Ours are safe." 

"I don't see why you didn't just tell us, Gohan-san. I mean, I would have helped. I'm sure Goten would have, too." 

Gohan shook his head. "Can you honestly see your father not fighting an enemy? It would have started a war. I had to tell him you were sick to keep him from suspecting me. And Goten… he found out far too quickly for me to be able to tell him about it. And once he saw the shells, he wouldn't have believed me. I had to be utterly convincing, Trunks. Speaking of which, where is he? My brother, I mean." 

"I'll go get him and bring him back to Capsule Corps. You can make sure that the ki-thingy is gone, right?" 

"I can do that. I'll meet you there, then." Gohan cast one more look at the last of the fireworks vanishing in the sunlight and took off. 

Goten was exactly where Trunks had left him; breathing deeply and evenly, color in his face. He winced when Trunks pulled him out from underneath the concealment, and opened his eyes. "'s too early to get up, Trunks-kun." He blinked, then, and looked around. "Where are we? We didn't go camping, did we?" 

"What's the last thing you remember, chibi?" Trunks helped his friend to his feet. 

"Um… flying towards your place with Gohan. That's all," Goten said after a minute. "But I'm starving!" 

"So you don't remember…" The statement was made under Trunks' breath, and Goten missed it entirely. 

"I did have a really weird dream, though. You were in it." Goten smiled, and Trunks was completely caught in the sheer beauty of it. He had nearly lost Goten… 

"There's some stuff I need to tell you, chibi." He smiled back. "Let's get you some breakfast first, though." 

Goten hesitated, then darted forward to plant a light kiss on Trunks' mouth. "I…" He blushed, slightly. "I just wanted to do that… I mean, I don't want to not tell you, because if something happened… And I love you." 

"No explanations needed, chibi." Trunks wrapped an arm around his counterpart's waist. "I missed you while you were gone." His smile took on a definite mischievous overtone. "Now I'd better get you some food before you keel over from sheer hunger." 

"Hey!" Goten's protest was drowned out by his stomach growling, and Trunks burst out laughing. 

"Let's go, Chibi." 

The sun had never shone quite so brightly. 


End file.
